SeaBee Museums and Memorials

The Civil Engineer Corps and Seabee Museum
http://www.ncbc.navfac.navy.mil/cecmuseum/

Drop in visits by the general public are no longer allowed.
Contact the museum for information about reservations and guided tours.

Naval Construction Battalion Center
621 Pleasant Valley Rd.
Port Hueneme, CA 93043-4401
Phone: (805) 982-5169 Fax: (805) 982-5595

Mailing Address:
4111 San Pedro St.,
Code 9, Bldg. 99
Port Hueneme, CA 93043-4401

John Langellier Director/ Curator

National Museum of the Pacific War (Admiral Nimitz Museum)
PO Box 777
Fredericksburg, TX 78624
http://www.nimitz-museum.org/

Mr. Jeff Hunt, Curator: 830-997-4379 x226
Mr. Floyd Cox, Coordinator-Oral History Program

Seabee Museum and Memorial Park, (Camp Endicott, Davisville, RI)
21 Iafrate Way
North Kingston, RI 02852
www.seabeesmuseum.com

Atlantic Fleet Seabee's Headquarters and Museum
5200 2nd Street, Building 59, Marvin Shields Blvd.,
Naval Battalion Construction Center,
Gulfport, MS 39501-5001.
www.cbcgulfport.navy.mil
http://www.ncbc.navfac.navy.mil/cecmuseport.um/gulfhtm

Navy Seabee Memorial
On the bridge and near the subway stop leading to
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, VA

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl, Hawaii
Some 143 WWII Seabees are buried here, probably including members of the 93rd
http://www.hnn.navy.mil/Archives/010126/seabeemem_0126.htm
 

The 93rd Seabees Cruise Book (Now on CD ROM)

Pacific Duty: A Book of Record and Review of the Activities and Achievements of the Ninety-Third United States Naval Construction Battalion.  Edited by G.E. Pappas and Published by Lester C. Nielson Company, Huntington Park, CA, 1946

CD-ROMs for the 93rd NCB and for most other Seabee battalions can be purchased for $30 at the CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation Museum store, located at the Port Hueneme, CA Naval Seabee Base, or on-line at www.seabeehf.org or by phone 805-982-5168 between 9am to 4pm Monday through Saturday PST

This 155 page, largely photographic album, gives the history, names and photographs of the 1000 Battalion members. Occasionally copies of the book itself are available through various on-line used book sites, however the prices can run from $75 to $215.
 

Other WWII Seabee Battalions

8th Seabees 'The Eight Ball Battalion'  (photo album includes barracks at training camps)
http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/the8ball/main.html 

87th Seabees photos - look for the Aurelio Tassone drawing:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tqpeiffer/Documents/MILITARY%20%20Vets%20-%20Units/Military%20Units/Photo%20Archive/87th%20Naval%20Const.%20Btln/PHOTOS%20and%20-IMAGES%20OF%20THE%2087th%20U.S.%20NAVAL%20CONSTRUCTION%20BATTALION%20SEABEEs.html

92nd Seabees: Jack Courage in Bob's Diary

112th Seabees  www.112thseabees.com

113th Seabees: Detachments A, B, and C

Letters from The Good War and  When Wars Were Won by Hugh Aarons.  Available from Stones Point Press, P.O. Box 384, Belfast, ME 04915. At 18, he was probably too young for the 93rd, but by summer the WPA slurry was drying up and an ambitious, optimistic fitness freak in overdrive took the Navy by storm.  He loved the food, the exercise, the fresh air. Fortunately, he also loved to write and his 1000 pages of letters are a rich chronicle of Seabee life through the eyes of a rapidly maturing adolescent.  Letters, of course, did have to go through censors and Hughie saw much that he couldn’t share until he was safely out of the Navy’s way.  The real story of the Seabees, therefore, is in the novel.

The 113th was divided into 3 detachments, each with its own story: A with Hugh Aarons, B. whose LST was sunk off Mindinoro, and C, the "Forgotten 55" which was largely attached to PT squadrons. The Forgotten 55: Article in SEABEE http://www.rjritchie.com/gar/WWII/id18.htm The 113 in training at Hueneme: (upper right) Seabees  Newspapers: Coverall, 4-6-1944

553rd Seabee Maintenance Unit:   John Loring Gould: Photos and Documents from his son in law, Bruce Lord 552nd Seabee Maintenance Unit Tom Taylor's memories

554th Seabee Maintenance Unit (CBMU) J. William Joynes: One Small Part in WWII:  A Seabee’s Memoirs:  J. William Joynes is another of those fellows who landed in the Seabees due to poor eyesight.  His vision had been sufficient for a job with the Baltimore newspaper.  And so, he became a yeoman in the 554 Construction Battalion Maintence Unit (CBMU).  Most of his Pacific service was on lonely Johnston Island.

6th  Special Seabees: The 6th Special landing in Philippines amidst Leyte Gulf Battle and Typhoon: Exerpt: forthcoming book by Frank Jardim, Director, Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor: (The 93rd NCB was still at sea when the Zaudak abandoned the Bees in the San Pedro swamp.) The 6th Special NCB Company itineraries The 6th Special NCB- Banika, Green, and Samar-John Esposito 6th Seabee photos and insignia from John Ratomski

Navy hero: 6th Special Seabees 6th Special

John Ratomski's 6th Special website 6th Special Website 6th Special Photos

Construction Battalion Detachment 1067 Automotive Repair Unit: Allen McSweeney:  Calicoan
http://www.coa-hs.org/tribute/part_six/part3.htm

25th Seabees  http://carol_fus.tripod.com/navy_hero_25th_ncb.html25th Naval Construction Battalion
http://carol_fus.tripod.com/navy_hero_25th_ncb.html31st Naval Construction Battalion
http://carol_fus.tripod.com/photo_seabee_wtrich.html

31st Seabees Association  Http://www.31st-seabees.com/

57th Seabees: http://pdharris.com/sopac_saga_57th_seabees.htm#page_27
60th & 50th Battalion,
http://carol_fus.tripod.com/navy_hero_hd_coons.html

61st Seabees

62nd Naval Construction Battalion
http://carol_fus.tripod.com/navy_hero_62nd_ncb.html

63rd  Seabees
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/wwii/facts/63rdbees.txt

64th Seabees

76th Seabees: Patrick Thompson's tribute to his father:  http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo0pwz/76thseabeesworldwar2/index.html
http://www.janesoceania.com/palmyra_postcards/index1.htm

121st Naval Construction Battalion
http://carol_fus.tripod.com/navy_hero_121st_ncb.html

133rd Seabees WWII
http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-stories/ww2/133rdseebees.asp
Petition for the 133rd NCB to receive a Presential Unit Citation for their contributions during the assualt on Iwo Jima.  Please go to this link and Sign the petition! http://www.petitiononline.com/IwoCB133/petition.html
Sculpture on Iwo Jima was hand carved by Waldon T. Rich, a Navy Seabee stationed on the island during the battle for the island.            
Naval Construction Battalions on Iwo Jima
http://carol_fus.tripod.com/navy_hero_133rd_ncb.html

27th Special Seabee Battalion
http://carol_fus.tripod.com/navy_hero_tb_farmer.html
 

The end of the war was celebrated in the Overseas Edition of the New York Times while SeaBee published the locations of all Battalions at war's end on August 29, 1945.  A commemorative edition on October 10 listed every Seabee outfit and its wartime service.  Thanks to Penny Hoffman for this vintage collection of Bulldozer, Coverall, SeaBee, and New York TIMES.

Seabees Reading List

THE STORY OF THE SEABEES: CAN DO!- by William Bradford Huie, 1944, Bluejacketbooks, Naval Institute Press, Reissued 1997. Story of the first Battalion

DAVISVILLE AND THE SEABEES by Walter K. Schroder and Gloria Emma, Arcadia Press 1999. Stories and photos of Endicott Base in Davisville, RI. Toll-free 888-313-BOOK

FROM OMAHA TO OKINAWA - by William Bradford Huie, 1946. Bluejacketbooks, Naval Institute Press, Reissued 1997. 

ISLAND FIGHTING, by Rafael Steinberg, TIME-LIFE BOOKS, Alexandria, VA.  Last section of the book devoted to the Seabees in the WWII Pacific.

Preview Books on the Web!

From Omaha to Okinawa: The Story of the Seabees - P. 191  (93rd NCB) by William Bradford Huie -  - When it was decided to divert part of the invasion fleet— and virtually all of the Navy activity— from Leyte to Samar, the 93rd Seabees had that ready for the first plane landing on 18 December, and the Army as well as Navy planes began using it around Christmas time.

History of United States Naval Operations in World War II - P. 350  (93rd NCB) by Samuel Eliot Morison 2002